Can't Slow Down (Lionel Richie album)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Robert Christgau	B+[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]

In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a "B+" and called it a "surprisingly solid" improvement, particularly with respect to Richie's ballad singing. He felt that its "jumpy international dance-pop" suited Richie more than the Commodores' funk had and predicted that, considering his "well-established appeal to white people," Can't Slow Down had the potential to become a "mini-Thriller".^[2] Don Shewey of Rolling Stone magazine gave the album four out of five stars and said that, although the ballads were monotonous, Richie successfully broadened his music for different listeners and drew on contemporary artists such as Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson: "if you can't innovate, imitate. And the more honest they are about their sources, the better."^[9]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it four-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote that Richie took a conservative, melodic hook-based approach on an album whose hits showed him at his best and whose only weakness was a short running time.^[7] In 1999, Q magazine included Can't Slow Down on its list of the best Motown records of all time and stated, "Production values are high, his songwriting craft is at its peak and at least one track – the global smash 'All Night Long' – is an anthem to good times that makes the heart sing and feet twitch".^[10]

In an unprecedented snub, Can't Slow Down was left out of Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Best Albums of the Eighties", despite the album winning a Grammy award for Album of the Year in 1985.

The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.^[11] It also spent 59 consecutive weeks inside the Top 10 (including the entire year of 1984) and a total of 160 weeks (over three years) on the Billboard 200.^{[citation needed]} After being the third best-selling album of 1984, it went on to win a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1985, beating out such heavyweight contenders as Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen and Purple Rain by Prince. By 1986 the album had sold 15 million copies,^[12] eventually selling over 20 million.^[13]

Can't Slow Down achieved the feat of having every single released hit the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Two songs, "Hello" and "All Night Long (All Night)", both went to #1. Other hits include "Stuck on You" (US #3), "Running With the Night" (US #7), and "Penny Lover" (US #8).^{[citation needed]} The ballad "The Only One" was a significant song from the album which was never released as a single, yet remains a popular staple of Richie's live performances.

The single "Stuck on You" also reached No. 24 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart (now Hot Country Songs).^{[citation needed]}

On May 6, 2003, a two-CD deluxe edition of the album was released in conjunction of the 20th anniversary of the album's original release date. This version included several mixes originally included on various singles from the album at the end of the first CD, including instrumental versions of the 12-inch extended mixes of "All Night Long (All Night)" and "Running with the Night". Disc 2 showcased demo or alternate versions of all tracks from the original album, plus additional unfinished songs from the same sessions, all previously unreleased.

Credits lifted from the album's liner notes.^[14]

Performers and musicians

Chant vocals on "All Night Long"

Hoopa Hollers on "All Night Long"

Production

• List of best-selling albums
• List of best-selling albums in the United States